


Memories and Dreams - REWRITTEN

by seraph_writes



Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ash is trying her Best, Canon Relationships, Canon Temporary Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Explicit Language, Religious Cults, Sal's Adventures in the Afterlife, Sally lives babey!!, chapter 3 is unfinished, everyone lives au, sal/ash if you squint
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:53:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22133605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraph_writes/pseuds/seraph_writes
Summary: "To Ashley, Sal's room was one of memories and dreams..."This is a complete rewrite of chapter 5 which explains all your unanswered questions, features your favourite characters, and gives the gang their well-deserved happy ending.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Todd Morrison/Neil
Comments: 5
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to say that I don't hate Steve or what he did with the ending to Sally Face, I just know that a lot of people are really torn up about how it ended and that it seemed a little rushed/abrupt?? Also how a lot of new concepts and characters were introduced that just,,, never ended up being important in the end? I appreciate Steve Garby and it's mind-blowing to think he made the whole game on his own. I am merely doing my service to the fandom and providing the feel-good happy ending

_The roar of the motorcycle’s engine resounded over the empty slopes of land. Ashley sped down the road, the pine trees whipped past her as she mounted speed. Faster, faster. Please wait for me Sal, she prayed._

_The grey halls with their bright lights were more foreboding than any ghosts Sal had ever seen. He did not need the handcuffs and the none-too insistent pushing from the prison guards -- Sal marched forward on his own. He no longer feared death._

_“I’m afraid you’re too late. They took him in about an hour ago.” Ash was already gone, rushing down the hall. The secretary, already forgotten, had basically just sealed Sal’s fate -- she only had a few moments to act. There, in a locked room was her best friend. Through the thick glass she could see him strapped into a large electric chair, eyes covered, with the fatal contraption stuck on his blue head of hair. He looked a lot older, Ash thought. In fact, he didn’t look like Sal much at all. His shoulders slumped and scarred lips twisted into a deep grimace._

_Ash didn’t wait a second before pounding on the window: “WAIT! He was telling the truth! I have proof!” The blurry picture of Larry she held desperately against the glass, hoping someone would see it, “You have to wait! Just let me show you what I found!”_

_They didn’t listen. Ash screamed pathetically as the executioner in the next room pulled the lever controlling the electric chair. The woman gaped in horror as the room behind the glass lit up with a horrible flash of blue sparks, the lights above her head flickering in attempt to contain that raw power. The screaming buzz that reverberated from the machine had to be the worst sound Ashley had ever heard. The sound of her best friend’s life ending._

_The time was 6:33 pm._

* * *

The air of Neveroak Cemetery was solemn but welcoming. Surprisingly, this graveyard did not creep her out as much as graveyards did in the past. Ash supposed it was because she had spent so much time here over the last few months, and her friends, who did not scare her at all, had called this place home for a while. The woman strolled slowly past the rows of headstones, reading and considering each one. The Holmes family, Mr and Mrs Sanderson, Rob, the Morrisons and Chug. She passed by Soda’s quickly and without looking, unable to face the tiny grave. Next was Larry’s, then Lisa and Henry’s.

Further down the row of gravestones, was a simple stone standing alone. Ash cracked a sad smile and crouched down next to it. She patted the heavy stone like it was the shoulder of a friend. On its face read:

**SAL FISHER**

**1976 - 2004**

**~~**

**SON OF HENRY AND**

**DIANE FISHER**

Ash sighed. Before her laid a smooth, white mask. A prosthetic, actually. Sal’s. The right corner was cracked and discoloured. Grass was growing out of the eye sockets. Ash secretly hoped it would be absorbed into the dirt, so it would belong to Sal once more. God knows she didn’t deserve to keep it.

“Sorry I haven’t visited in a few nights,” She said to the ground, “Things have gotten worse…”

* * *

Neil had changed a lot since that night at the apartments. Ash didn’t blame him of course, but he had because much more brash and reckless, instead of keeping the cool head he’d always had.

“It’s been five months since Todd escaped the institution. I hope he’s okay.” She said. 

“He’s gotta be under that damn church. It’s the one place we haven’t been able to get to,” Neil replied, his voice harsh, “They’re down there, I know they are. And they have my Todd.” Ash could almost pity the man if she didn’t feel similarly. The only difference is she had a better reign of the intense emotions that threatened to tear her apart. Neil was in love, and people will do crazy things for love.

“Did you get the rest of that C-4 from your army friend?” Ash asked him. “I got it last night.” He replied, “Have you found a way in?” “I think so, yeah. We should go Tuesday night, that’s when they’re least active.”

“Remember our agreement. If we get caught down there--”

“We won’t. We’re going to get Todd and then blow that place to bits.”

“Neil, I’m serious,” Ashley urged. “So am I,” Neil retorted, “But if we do get caught… then yeah, we take them down with us... I’m ready.”

“Good. At least one of us is,” She muttered.

Sometimes Ash feared Todd was a lost cause. In the few times she had seen him since he’d been infected by the dark, his behaviour had been so jarring that Ash wondered if anyone could ever recover from such a dark and polluted mind. At first, they had been able to talk to him, though his words and mannerisms were unlike anything Ash had ever seen. He quickly lost that lucidity though, and was reduced to an animal; one that would snarl and drool, arms stiff and eyes painfully bloodshot. The cult no doubt had a part in breaking him out and they wanted him alive. That was Ash’s one saving grace. 

In the meantime, Neil and Ash had been working on finding a way to cure the possession and cleanse the infected body. Todd’s previous work was extensive, but there was not yet a clear answer. She felt like there was one last piece she was left to find; like she was on the verge of a breakthrough she couldn’t quite reach. 

The only reason they had information on Todd’s whereabouts is because of an anonymous inside source. This mysterious person was definitely a member of the cult; no one else would be able to get such privileged information. Several times had Ash received messy, scribbled notes in the mail detailing cult locations and operations.

That took them to the Phelps Ministry. The creepy church that sits at the top of Chapel Hill. Even in high school, Ash got a weird feeling about that place. She thought it was just the hotspot for all the staunch Christians in Nockfell, but apparently it was just a front and the entry point to the main temple of the Devourers. After Addison Apartments got destroyed, the Ministry was heavily guarded for a while. That was proof enough.

“Have you fed Maple yet?” Ash asked the man as she made her way down the stairs. “I tried. She’s still not eating.”

“I’ll see if I have any luck.”

Ash decided to stop at Sal’s room at the bottom to the second-floor stairs. It hadn’t changed much in the last four years, but something about it made their whole situation strikingly real. Sal’s books, his posters and masks hung on the wall. His collection of colourful fake eyeballs. It all made Ash remember that Sal was once a real person at the root of this big mess, not just a passing dream or nostalgia for something she had never experienced. To Ashley, Sal’s room was one of memories and dreams. 

Napping on the bed was Gizmo. Neil had been looking after the orange cat ever since that night four years ago. Gizmo was doing fine, but he hadn’t left Sal’s room ever since the execution. He was like he knew.

The basement was on the other end of the house and down a rickety wood staircase. Despite being damp in the winter and humid in the summer, the basement, with its old, comfortable couch and collage of photos on the back wall was Ash and the gang’s favourite hangout, when they were all still together. Now it gave off a threatening aura and Ash didn’t like to spend any more time down there then she had to.

The space under the stairs had been turned into a makeshift cage. A hole had been cut into the wood panel and a door made from metal fencing had been installed instead, secured with a number of locks -- a sign to anyone that whatever was inside was very dangerous.

Sitting inside the very amateur cage was Maple. A very sickly, dirty, possessed Maple. About two months ago she started acting strangely. At first it was brushed off as grief -- She hadn’t been the same after Chug and Soda died -- but then came the violence. She would disappear into insane fits and be unable to control her body. She became a threat to herself and others and had to be locked up.

Maple was genuinely grateful. That was the worst part. She was grateful that Ash and Neil were trying to help her. Ash couldn’t stand looking at her when she was conscious. When she was aware of what she had become. Her sanity slipped away quickly, like water through a sieve. 

Then the screaming started. Maple would scream all through the night for many nights in a row. It sounded like someone being murdered, and it left her throat raw and bloody. After that nightmare ended, another started. As of two weeks ago, Maple refused to eat. Ash and Neil had been force-feeding her as much as necessary, but it was a difficult task. It was an unspoken truth that hung in the air, but they both knew Maple wouldn’t last much longer. They needed to find that cure.

Ash cautiously approached Maple’s cell. “Hey Maple, how are you today?” She asked as cheerfully as she could muster. Maple snarled deeply in response. “Neil and I are going to get Todd back soon. We may have to stick him in there with you until we can figure out a better solution.” Ashley paused, hoping the woman would say something, “I hope you don’t mind.”

Maple gurgled.

“I’ve got to run out to the shed really quick, but when I get back in, we’ll get you some nice warm soup.” Ash explained, and turned away to the door on the other end of the basement. 

Through there was the backyard. Devoid of much anything except for grass and the shed. After failing to punch in the code correctly, Ash unlocked the door and headed inside. The shed was as cluttered as ever. Even more so, now. The dusty shelves and lockers were covered with occult relics and paraphernalia. On the corkboard-choked walls, old notes from the gang’s high school ghost-busting days were hidden under recent notes detailing the Devourers’ prophecies.

One piece of copy paper was nailed front-and-center. It was a printed copy of a document about the cult:

THE FINAL PROPHECY OF CITLALI GREY

(a rough and incomplete translation)

“The blue flame, not yet extinguished, still flickers in the night. He who sees between worlds, Child of Abomination. Wielding light beyond man, transender of death, resurrected by Asintmah. For whom the Void shall not swallow.”

Citlali Grey was a seer and former Council member in the cult, possibly when it was first founded. Ash had discovered that ‘Asintmah’ referred to a formation of three pyramid-shaped stones. She had already found one of them. It was heavy and cold in her palm as she stared up at the corkboard. Ash wasn’t sure who this ‘Child of Abomination’ is, but if they are an enemy of the cult, then they would be a much needed ally.

In the back of the shed sat an unassuming cardboard box. A package. Ash picked it up and left the shed.

* * *

“We got these weird pyramid things in the mail,” Ash explained to Sal’s grave, “Another package from our mysterious cultist insider. Todd had a third pyramid in the shed.” Somewhere nearby, crickets chirped into the evening air. “In his notes, he says he found it in the temple under the old apartments. They seem pretty important.” 

Almost ceremoniously, Ashley placed the three pyramids in a triangle formation around Sal’s mask. “I think they might be linked to you somehow,” She spoke with finiality.

Sal’s face stared up at her. The stones were still only stones, and Sal was still dead.

“No matter how I turn these, nothing happens. I thought _something_ would happen this time…” Ash grumbled. She sighed, “Sal, there’s something else I need to tell you.”

* * *

_It was dusty and warm inside Larry’s old treehouse. Lazy yellow streaks of light shone through the cracks in the boarded-up windows. The walls were covered in ruined posters and framed photos of Lisa, Larry and Sal._

_“So you think that pyramid thing that Todd found can help us find Sal?” Larry was asking her. He was standing there, on the other side of the treehouse, looking almost like a hologram that was being projected from somewhere else in the room. “It seems like it,” Ash replied, “I’ve pieced together what I could find about the old cult prophecies, and from what I can tell, there are three pyramids that will summon their destruction. All signs point to Sal as the one who can stop them.”_

_Larry chuckled, “I always knew Sally Face would do great things. Don’t give up on him, Ash. You have to find him.” He always referred to bringing Sal back as ‘finding’ him. Like the afterlife was a labyrinth that Sal was hiding in somewhere. Ash supposed Larry knew more about it than she did. “I won’t. Ever. I just need to find the two other pyramids.”_

_“Once I’m free from this fucking treehouse I’ll help you find them,” Larry sighed angrily. “I don’t know if this is a good idea. What if burning down the treehouse only makes things worse?” Ash countered. “Trust me, it can’t get any worse,” Larry spoke as easy as ever, “I can’t live like this anymore -- Or, you know, not ‘live’ but whatever. I can’t stay stuck in this place.”_

_“What if you end up somewhere else instead of being free? Your soul will dissolve into nothingness!”_

_“Then nothingness would be better than existing like this. Please Ash, you have to help me.”_

_“If I do this, you have to promise me you’ll be okay. Promise me you won’t fade away,” Ashley’s voice hovered dangerously on the verge of cracking. Larry paused. He took a slow, deep breath. His milky eyes closed for a moment and then opened again._

_“I promise.”_

_Ash stood across the yard that used to be Addison Apartments and watched the treehouse burn. The scene looked like the type of angsty painting she would’ve made in high school, one that symbolized the pointlessness of adult life or the destruction of youth. The hills stretching out into the horizon were empty, the lot the treehouse was on had all been bulldozed, save for a few sparse trees that might have meant something at some point. Everything smelled of gasoline. Ash stayed until all that was left of Larry’s treehouse was the charred skeleton of the trunk._

* * *

Ash was leaning against Sal’s gravestone as she continued recounting; “I went back to the burnt tree every night for weeks. He’s just… gone.”

“I can’t bring myself to go anymore. Another screw up in my long list of failures.” She said harshly as she got back up to her feet. She looked out over Neveroak, over the ocean of grey, unblinking stones, and into the sky.

“But I’m not gonna fail you this time, Sal.”

* * *

On Tuesday morning, Ash went over to Neil’s house, but it was empty. A chair had been knocked over upstairs, but that wasn’t all too out of the ordinary. “Helloooo? Neil? You home?” The woman called out. No one answered. She dug the rest of the C-4 out of the backpack sitting against a cabinet and headed back downstairs. 

Ash crept cautiously down the basement stairs. Her stomach sank as she spotted Maple’s cell -- or what was left of it. A large hole had been torn in the metal fencing that acted as the door, and scratches and scuff marks made a path leading up the stairs. Even worse, a strange black substance, viscous like tar or blood, clung to the ripped cage and made droplets on the wooden stairs. It was probably Maple’s saliva, another sign that the infection was growing.

“Crap. This isn’t good.”

A door slammed somewhere upstairs. It was the front door, she knew that for certain. The woman flew up the stairs, looking wildly around. She expected to see _someone_ , but the house was empty. And completely silent. She was about to head straight out the door when she realized that there was a piece of paper on the dining table that hadn’t been there before.

Ash tentatively grabbed the mysterious note. It was a letter, scribbled quickly on a piece of scrap paper:

_Ash,_

_They have Maple and Neil. You have to move quickly._

_The temple is lightly guarded today._ _Sneak into the main entrance_ _I told you about before._

 _Once you get to the main chamber, you’ll have to act stealthily. There are_ _four pillars with insets_ _that hold sacred jars._

_If you plant the explosives there, it’s sure to bring the whole place down. Stick them behind the jars._

_It’s forbidden to touch the jars._ _Good luck._

On the back of the note was a hand-drawn map with the location of the jars. Ash wasted no time. Stuffing the note into her pocket, she headed to the temple right away.

* * *

The sight of the Phelps Ministry building was as sinister as ever, but now the eerily ordinary church filled Ash with anxiety. It was pretty easy to sneak into the temple that lay dormant underneath like a slumbering beast. Every step in that place felt like it would be her last, and Ash felt the constant urge to look over her shoulder. She traversed carefully through the halls, hiding from the occasional cloaked cult member that would pass by. The woman eventually placed all four explosives on their respective pillars, just as the note said, being careful not to enter the center chamber, which was marked with a giant skull and crossbones with ‘DO NOT ENTER’ written beside it.

“That’s all of them,” Ash muttered to herself after painstakingly sliding the C-4 behind the jars without touching them. She entered a corridor next to the inset pillar and immediately noticed this one was different from the others.

“Ash?” A weary voice called. 

“Neil!” The woman answered, relieved. She rushed over to where Neil stood, in a large, ominous cage with iron bars. “Are you okay?”

“I’ve had better days. How did you get in here?” He asked, a weak smile on his face. “I’ll tell you later, right now we gotta get you out of here.” She replied, skittering around the room, trying to look for a way to break Neil out, “What about Maple and Todd, have you seen them?”

“Maple is in the next cell over. And Todd is here! I saw him when they dragged us in here.” Ash looked, and sure enough, in an identical cell next to Neil’s, the huddled form of Maple sat in the corner.

Ash exhaled shakily, the gears in her head turned as she scrambled for a plan. “They have Todd in a different room. I’m not sure where, though,” She heard Neil say.

“Where are the keys?” Ash demanded, “I’ll get you out and then maybe we can grab Maple and Todd.” Neil shook his head, “One of the guards has the keys, but it’s too risky. Even if you were able to get them, we can’t handle Maple and Todd. They’re too far gone…”

“We can do it. I know we can!” Ash protested.

“I… I think it’s time for plan B.”

“Neil, no.”

“Save yourself, Ash. Someone has to live through this,” Neil pleaded, clinging to the bars of the cage. Just then, a voice sounded from the entrance to the corridor: “You there!” It was one of the cult members, cloaked in a dark purple robe with a hood obscuring their face. Only the voice of the cult member wasn’t the dread-inducing, ominous voice Ash was expecting. In fact, they didn’t sound threatening at all. The voice was that of a young man, slightly nasally and very grumpy.

“Wait,” Ash deadpanned, and the figure slowed their approach towards her, “I know that voice. Who are you?” The cultist paused. Ash could tell they were taken aback. Finally, the man flipped his hood down off his head, revealing a very familiar face.

“Travis!” Ash cried in surprise. In the flesh, the Phelps boy stood before them, looking perpetually irritated as ever. He had definitely grown since the last time Ash had seen him. His hair was longer, his skin more sallow. He had wrinkles on his forehead. Around his right eye was a puffy, purple bruise. Travis Phelps had pretty much dropped off the face of the earth after the gang’s high school graduation. Ash knew for a fact that he still lived in Nockfell, but she never saw him. He resurfaced briefly around the time of Sal’s trial, but then he was gone again. It seems _this_ was what he was doing all that time.

“You need to leave. If they catch you here, it won’t end well,” He told her bluntly. 

“You look horrible, dude. What happened to you?” Ash asked uneasily. “Don’t act like you give a shit about me. Just get out of here,” Travis spat. “Come on, man. You can help us with Maple and Todd. Let’s _all_ get out of here together,” She begged. “Trust me when I say, it’s impossible,” he retorted wryly.

“I know there’s some good in you, Travis. Sal saw it too. He stood up for you when no one else would. Do this for him.”

“Sal is dead,” Travis’ voice cut through the stagnant air, “And you will be too if you don’t leave.”

“Damnit, why won’t you help us?!” Ash exploded, her eyes pricking with tears. “He’s right, Ash. You should go,” Neil urged. 

Her palms started to sweat. The threat of losing her friends becoming increasingly real, “But…”

“It’s okay. I’ve made my piece with it. I’ll finally be with my Todd again,” Neil’s smile almost broke her heart. 

Travis pretty much had to drag her out of there. She wanted to scream and struggle the whole way but she knew she couldn’t. When she finally got to the bottom of Chapel Hill, she turned and stared back up at the church. Under the bright afternoon sun it looked so normal. So painfully, horrifyingly normal. The end of the world was taking place under that damn church and no one knew a thing. Ashley hated it with every fiber of her being.

* * *

“I couldn’t do it,” She lamented to Sal’s grave, “I couldn’t press that button knowing our friends were down there.” Ash paused. No one replied. She lifted her eyes from the lifeless gravestone and the lifeless mask, and up to the rumbling navy blue sky.

“If you’re out there somewhere… please, Sal. I need your help.”

Above her, thunder shook the heavy clouds and the sky buzzed with a powerful energy. Somewhere far away, a blue flame flickered in the night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's pretty long, strap in folks ;))

There was a house standing before Sal, then it was gone again. He was being pulled in all different directions at the same time. The lights. The termites that ate at the trees. Spilt blood. A passage between worlds. The feeling of his heart being squeezed violently. 

A blue flame, flickering on in the night.

“It’s happening again,” he said to the darkness, “Who am I?”

**You are unbound,** responded a voice.  **You are broken,** mirrored another.

Above him, the void swirled. A spiderweb-sky stretched on forever. There were small globes floating above. Explosions of light captured in a transparent bubble. Grey tendrils made up the space in between, floating like the arms of a jellyfish underwater. They reminded Sal of leaves and roots, or perhaps veins and arteries.

**You must balance yourself,** sighed the first voice,  **Don’t let your nightmares affect your reality, Sal.**

**Follow your heart, child,** the second voice chimed.

“Who are you?” Sal asked whoever -- or whatever -- was listening.  **We are everything,** answered a voice.  **And nothing,** continued the second.

Sal looked around. There was a strange sense of familiarity he felt. “Have I been here before?”

**You have always been here,** replied the voices. Whoever these omnipotent, disembodied beings were, they weren’t very helpful. “Ugh, nevermind,” Sal huffed and began walking.

It seemed like he hadn’t been walking long -- or maybe it was, time was funny here -- Sal came upon a house. A house in the void. It looked more like the translucent silhouette of a house, devoid of colour and just as grey as the rest of the infinite space. The windows were cracked and it seemed very small. Sal hopped up onto the front porch and walked through the front door.

The house was much bigger on the inside than it appeared. There was a wide hallway stretching out in both directions, with walls that climbed up so high that Sal could not see the ceiling. On one end of the hallway was a towering doorway, flooded with an impossibly bright light. On the other end of the hall was an identical doorway, except this one was completely cloaked in shadow. Between the two was a wide, ornate staircase that climbed up through the grey walls into some other, unseen place. Sal could not see what was through either doorway, so he opted to take the stairs, following the familiar feeling.

Sal climbed up the stairs, into the complete darkness above. When he emerged, he was at the top of the stairs which had led him to a new room. This place too had impossibly infinite ceilings and strange, grey walls. It was cluttered with unusual objects. Boxes that piled higher than he could see. Ancient pieces of stone that looked like they had been broken off a building. Sal thought that the room looked like a place some old, ancient being would keep their storage. An attic, he decided.

However, that was not all. Before Sal was an unholy mountain of strange objects. Half-swallowed by the pile was a simple stool and table, all grey. Sitting at the table was the unmistakable face of Jim Johnson. Sal could tell that this was not  _ completely  _ Jim, because the man had been split in many parts, and Sal and seen and befriended almost all of them. The blue-haired man was certain that this Jim knew him just as well, and was still just as much of a friend as he had been all those years ago. Jim was slouched over the table, an open book in front of him. 

Sal glanced up and saw the strangest sight of all. Hanging above Jim was a swirling, pulsing mass, like a brain. It displayed a dizzying myriad of colours -- purple and blue and yellow and purple again -- like the galaxy. Glowing strands connected to the mass were attached to Jim’s head and shoulders, almost like an IV drip.

“Uh, hello?” called Sal. 

“I’m glad you remembered where I was,” said the vestige of Jim Johnson. “Are you Jim?” Sal asked cautiously. “I was once. Well, part of me was. I’ve made many sacrifices to get here, and I’ve lost so much along the way,” replied Jim. Sal noticed that Jim’s mouth didn’t move when he spoke, and that his voice seemed to come from somewhere else in the room. 

“I guess you’re just as cryptic as the voices…” Sal muttered, and after a long pause said: “I’m so sorry about your family. Evelyn, Larry… Lisa.”

“I used to be as well. There was a time I thought I could save them by changing the future. It was all I ever wanted,” recalled the booming voice of Jim, “Lisa and Larry were the light of my life. I had never known such a deep love.”

Sal could say nothing. He hung his head in shame and sadness.

“I do not hold you responsible for their deaths,” Jim said suddenly, “I understand what had to be done. You lost a lot that day, too. But it is the nature of life. All living things must come to an end.” Sal lifted his gaze and stared at Jim’s face. As clearly as Sal could see him, he could not make out Jim’s eyes. “I remember what it was like to live. To feel. I do not miss the constant cloud of emotions,” Jim continued.

“It was all for nothing, though! The shadows still live, and the Devourers are going to call forth the plague!” Sal protested, “I stopped nothing. I died for nothing. I… killed… for nothing.” Sal’s voice broke on the last sentence.

“You can still stop them, if you wish to,” Jim spoke almost nonchalantly. Sal blinked in surprise. “In fact, you’re the key to their destruction. If that means anything to you now.”

Sal sighed sharply, “Is this that prophecy nonsense again? I don’t think I’m much of a chosen hero. I couldn’t save anybody.”

“There are no chosen heroes. Only those who chose to do heroic acts. Win or lose, light or dark, good or evil…These things don’t hold much significance to me anymore, but I would still like to help you, if you so choose,” offered the vestige. “How can I do anything like this?” Sal gestured around incredulously.

“Upon dying, your soul was shattered,” explained Jim, “This occurrence has awakened a unique ability within you. You will be able to drift into parallel worlds. Though, it will take some practice.” Here we go, Sal thought, the fun part. Just like old times. “How do I get back to  _ my  _ world?” he asked. “It will be difficult, but I have prepared for your arrival. I have built a device to help you. Your friend, Ashley, has gathered the device above your grave, in your world. This is good.” Jim continued. Sal’s heart leaped at the thought of Ash. Conflicting emotions washed over him at the same time. Relief, sadness, guilt. Homesickness. If he ever did get out of here, how would he ever be able to face Ash again? After what he did? But she was still helping him, even now. 

“However, there are more components and they must be aligned across the three realities that they have been hidden in,” Jim’s ominous voice shook Sal from his thoughts, “The Three Pyramids of Asintmah are each sealed within three puzzles. You must gather them all.” 

“If you hid these ‘Pyramids of Ass in Ma’ or whatever, why can’t you just grab them for me?”

“That is not possible. I can no longer intervene on such matters. I also erased the solutions from my memory, in case anyone tried to steal them. However, I can guide you to their locations.”

“Okay, well, that will save some time at least. Where should I start?”

“There used to be a door here,” was all Jim said. Sal stood there for a long, awkward moment before Jim’s resounding voice was heard again, “There it is.”

Sal turned and spotted a regular-sized, grey door. It was a very worn, well-used door. There were bumps and imperfections on the wood grain and scratches on the shiny doorknob. Sal got the impression that this was a real door that existed somewhere at some point and had been superimposed, like the house, into the void. In the middle of the door was a neatly-carved letter one.

“You’ll find your way through that door. Keep your wits about you.” Jim wished him good luck and without so much as another word, Sal turned and stepped through the door.

On the other side of the door was another hallway, except this one was much longer. Down either sides were identical grey doors, all labeled a different number. Sal could see doors one through four before the hallway tapered off into shadow. As Sal approached the dark end of the hall, he couldn’t help but think that this darkness was not the absence of light, but the presence of something else entirely. It was oppressive and very stuffy. On the other side of the shadows were two more doors, label five and six respectively. Sal approached door six and jiggled the doorknob. It was locked. Door five had a complex locking mechanism made up of hexagons and symbols that Sal didn’t understand. He made his way back up the hall and decided to enter the second door.

Inside, Sal first noticed the glowing pillar of light in the center of the room. He felt drawn to it, that sense of familiarity amplifying tenfold. It was like an opaque object, but Sal could stand under it like the rays of the sun. It refracted like a glass pyramid caught under a light beam, glittering. Sal stepped underneath and immediately began to feel lightheaded. The room shook and a pressure built in his ears.

Then, it stopped.

* * *

  
  


_ Sal sat on his bed with the door to his room open. Downstairs, he could hear his dad and the child psychologist, Dr Zimbardo, talking amongst themselves.  _

_ “I’m afraid moving isn’t an option for us,” his dad was saying, “The house has been on the market since… well, four years now.” The boy had been worried about all this talk of moving. It’s not like he had any friends he would be leaving behind, but he liked his house and the comfortable presence it had. It was all he really had left of his mother, and he would be sad to see it go. _

_ “It’s an important step I hope you will be able to take soon,” said Dr Zimbardo, “In the meantime, I believe that the cat will be of great comfort to Sal. He’s shown a lot of improvement since he was assigned the kitten.” Sal absentmindedly scratched behind the ears of the small orange cat on his lap as he listened. He adored his new pet and only friend. Him and his dad had referred to him as ‘kitty’ or ‘the cat’ at first, but Sal now had the perfect name in mind. Gizmo. _

_ “Are you sure he’s ready to come home now?” _

_ “More than ready. The question is; are you ready, Henry?” _

* * *

Everything felt strange. Everything  _ looked  _ strange. Travelling into a parallel world had worked, it seemed. He was standing in the living room of Todd and Neil’s house, his former home before that night when shit hit the fan. It looked odd though, in a way that Sal couldn’t describe. This definitely wasn’t his world.

“Well, this isn’t what I was expecting,” he sighed pensively. “You have awakened a new soul connection. It may feel strange at first,” came the ghostly voice of Jim. “It feels… almost natural. Like I’ve been here the whole time, and I’ve woken up from a dream.” “In the beginning, I found the odd sense of familiarity to be unsettling. But I am not like you.”

Sal didn’t respond. Instead, he began to examine the room. “You’ll find the first pyramid somewhere in this house,” and then the vestige of Jim was gone, and it was simply Sal and the house.

He began to wander, taking in the alternate version of Todd’s house. The door to the second floor was locked with a keypad on it, and Sal didn’t know any codes. In the kitchen, everything seemed more-or-less normal. However, the clock on the microwave was stuck at 1:45, the bright letters blinking as it waited to be reset manually. On the dining table was a simple piece of paper with a note written on it. Sal picked it up and read it carefully. He could tell just by the handwriting that it was from Ash.

_ Sal, _

_ I’m sorry I didn’t believe you before. I really wanted to. _

_ I tried so hard to be there for everyone and now it’s all falling apart. _

_ I hope it’s not too late to fix things. I hope that I can somehow make up for my mistakes. _

_ I need you to know that I _

The letter ended there. It seemed that something had interrupted Ash while she was writing. Sal stared at the note and read it over another few times. He wasn’t sure how to feel. He could only set the slip of paper back on the table and walk away.

Sal was sure that the missing pyramid was in Todd and Neil’s room, through the locked door. He just needed a code. On the other end of the house were the doors to the basement and bathroom. What first struck Sal was the huge, deep gashes in the wood of the basement door that could have only come from claws or really big teeth. Chips of wood were scattered on the floor below. Cautiously, Sal tried the doorknob. It was jammed shut.

He went into the bathroom instead, which was completely ordinary and completely still. Towels hung beside the shower. The laundry hamper was almost overflowing and few pieces of clothes that had missed the bin lay tangled on the floor. Sal turned the tap on, and the water that came out was so boiling hot that he could see wisps of steam rise into the air. The man turned the tap off again and turned to face the slightly foggy room.

A sudden squeaking noise caused Sal to whirl back around again. On the foggy mirror, a message had been written that was not there before: ‘1842’. Something clicked in his brain and he raced back to the locked upstairs door. He punched in the numbers: 1-8-4-2. A happy ‘ _ beeeeep’  _ had Sal smiling to himself as the door unlocked.

The blue-haired man hopped up to the second floor and immediately spotted the pyramid. It was a cloudy blue, sitting on a nearby table surrounded by Todd’s books on the occult and computer science.

As soon as Sal had his hand on it, a spike of otherworldly energy struck his heart. The deafening crack of lightning sounded like it had struck right next to his ear. A violent tingling sensation overtook his body. Sal felt like he was being electrocuted. All in the span of one moment, the room was swallowed by darkness, Sal and the pyramid along with it.

* * *

  
  


Ash had almost fallen asleep. Distantly, she felt Gizmo’s fuzzy head resting on her lap. Behind her eyelids, she saw an image on a corpse rising from the grave. A ghostly sensation shook her awake, striking her to her very soul. Lightning flashed again, closer this time. It brought a message. She didn’t have to be told twice; she knew where to go.

“Sal?”

Ash arrived at Neveroak within twenty minutes, her motorcycle abandoned at the gate. She rushed straight to Sal’s grave, heart in her throat. What she saw rendered her speechless.

A wispy apparition floated over the gravemarker. Thin, cracked bones, a corpse, from some other place was here in front of her eyes. Ash looked down. The pyramids and prosthetic were still sitting there where she had left them, but one of them was glowing.

“Sal?! Is that you?” she croaked. The skeleton twitched, the jaw opening and closing slowly as if trying to speak. Finally, there came a small, echoey voice: “ _...it’s… me… _ ” 

“You sound faint. Why is your ghost like this? How is this possible? T-There’s so many things I wanna tell you.”

“ _ The.... pyramids… _ ” muttered the ghost of Sal. Ash crouched down to examine them closer. The glowing pyramid had shapes illuminated on its faces, with three semicircles like half-moons. She whipped out a crumpled sticky note from her pocket. Todd had found a way to activate each one, which required a code. Ash tapped the semicircles on the pyramid which matched the sequence in Todd’s note.

As soon as she hit the last button, a horrible noise emitted from the device. It was like TV static grinding on her eardrums. Above her, Sal’s ghost howled and the translucent bones were covered in red veins and muscle that grew over it like a carnivorous plant. 

Then, again, everything was silent.

* * *

“You did it, Ash!” Sal cried joyfully. But Ash was no longer there. Sal stood alone inside the house in the void. “Oh, back here again… Whelp, onto the next one.”

The void was painfully silent, and Sal was getting increasingly annoyed by it. It was so silent, in fact, back the man was beginning to hear a white noise in the background. It was like a low hum, and the more time Sal spent here, the louder it got.

He took the stairs two at a time and was soon face-to-face with Jim again. “Congratulations, Sal. You are doing well,” Jim’s disembodied voice commended. “Thanks, be right back,” The boy-haired boy chirped as he disappeared through through the door to the hallway.

Sal entered the next door, labeled three. Just like the second door, there was a simple room with a pillar of light in the middle. Sal stepped underneath and let the static sensation take over him. He only had two more pyramids to find.

* * *

_ Sal watched the rain flick the car windows as it sped down the country road. It was barely five ‘o’clock yet, but it was dark enough that the headlights were needed. The air inside the car was quiet. _

_ “Dad, when will mom get out of the hospital?” The boy asked, breaking the silence. Sal’s dad didn’t respond, only gripping the steering wheel tighter. “Do you think she’ll recognize me with my new face?” _

_ “Goddamnit, Sal!” His dad barked, “Can we not do this today?!” That quieted Sal for a little while, and the child opted to watch the windshield wipers as they moved back and forth across the glass. _

_ “I just miss her,” He said finally.  _

_ “She’s dead! She’s fucking dead! Mom isn’t coming home!” Henry exploded. His voice was too loud in the small space of the car. _

_ Sal was quiet for a long time after that. “... What about the man with the dog face?” he asked in a small voice. “We’ve been over this,” his dad replied firmly. The car continued to bump along the road. “No one believes me, but I did see the dogman.” _

_ “That’s enough, Sal,” Henry cut him off dangerously. _

_ Sal’s small hands lifted the prosthetic in his lap up to his face, and fumbled with the straps. It was a bright pink, almost purple. “I chose the pink one because that’s mom’s favourite colour. I hope she recognizes me with it on,” he explained to no one. _

* * *

Sal found himself in another familiar place. It was a forest -- well, it used to be, at one point -- with rocks and large roots sticking out of the ground. There were more stumps than actual trees. It had a gloomy atmosphere and fog rolling in from all directions. Sal had been here before.

“I’ve been looking for this spot,” he mumbled to himself, “I spent so much time in these woods, looking for some evidence that this was real. That I wasn’t losing my mind.” 

“The Council went to great lengths to cover it up,” offered the voice of Jim, “They had hidden it with a ‘concealing spell’, as they called it. Of course, what they consider magic is merely a science they don’t understand yet.”

Sal nodded distantly at that, and set out to begin exploring around. He wandered for a few minutes, kicking at loose pebbles and looking under trees. There was nothing out of the ordinary. “I’m guessing you have some hidden things of your own out here, yeah?” he called out to Jim. 

“The second pyramid is here,” the voice answered. 

In the center of a large clearing, Sal spotted a huge hole in the ground. All the dirt had been turned up around it, like the impact zone of a meteor or a rocket ship from one of those retro sci-fi movies he watched with Larry. Sal walked down to the center of the miniature canyon and poked around. Any pieces of what landed here were gone. It was only dirt. 

Nearby, Sal discovered a stone embedded in the ground. On the stone was a table with nine squares. In each square was a symbol; a sun or a moon. When Sal touched one of the squares, it would switch from a sun to a moon and vice versa. Sal knew that this was the puzzle he had to solve. 

On the other end of the clearing Sal found more strange things. A pillar embedded in the ground and another stone that had the same table of moons and suns. The symbols made a pattern. Sal rushed back to the first stone and tapped the squares until they made the same pattern. He heard the distant sound of stone scraping stone. It worked. The pillar had risen from the ground. When Sal approached it, a compartment opened and inside was the second pyramid. He let himself celebrate a little bit before grabbing it.

Just like before, lightning struck and the world dissolved into darkness.

* * *

Back in the graveyard, Ash waited anxiously. The half-rotted ghost of Sal floated quietly over his grave, staring out through one milky yellow eye, but not seeing. Suddenly, the second pyramid lit up behind him, and Ash perked up immediately.

“Another one lit up!” she cheered. “Keep going... Ash… I’m getting… stronger…” urged the echoey voice of Sal. He sounded closer now, but no less pained. “You don’t look so great, Sal. I’m gonna figure this out,” she assured him before crouching down and copying the sequence from Todd’s notes. Ash carefully pressed the buttons and it lit up white in her palm, casting a beam into the sky. The same unnatural howl sounded again and Sal’s ghost began to change once more. 

Ash watched as his muscles were covered in skin. But it was green and thin and clung to his bones. Tufts of pale blue hair sprouted on his head. The tattered remains of an orange prison uniform hung from his body. Ash noticed that Sal’s ghost seemed to have more substance, like he was really floating there before her. But Sal was still dead. There was one more pyramid he had to find.

  
  


For the third time, Sal awoke in the house. He made his way quickly up to the attic and to the fourth door, but the room beyond was different. Instead of a white beam of light, in the center of the room was a beam of shadow. Somehow it still emitted an ethereal glow, making the beam itself look infinitely more dark. Still, when he stepped under it, it transported him somewhere new.

* * *

  
  


_ “Are you ready for your first day of school, Sally?” The gentle voice of Sal’s mother asked. “I don’t know…” replied a 4-year-old Sal. “It’ll be fun!” His mother exclaimed, “You’ll get to meet a bunch of kids your age and make lots of new friends!” The child squirmed with uncertainty in his mother’s arms, “But what if they don’t like me?” _

_ “That’s impossible,” his mother said, “You’re the coolest guy I’ve ever met.” _

_ “Me?” replied Sal, disbelieving. “Of course! You don’t have anything to be afraid of, my love. The teachers will take good care of you and I’ll be right here when you get back.” _

_ “I love you, mommy.” _

_ “I love you the most, Sally, don’t you forget it.” _

* * *

  
  


Sal first noticed that he was standing outside a cave. The land behind him was mostly flat, save for a few dead, mangled trees hunched over a murky lake. Sal remembered visiting this place as well.

“Is this the cave by Wendigo Lake? I don’t remember it being so big,” Sal mused aloud. “Another illusion created by your favourite cult,” chimed the voice of Jim. Sal cracked a smile, “Whoa, was that a joke from Mr Serious?” 

“No, it is me, Jim Johnson,” the vestige replied in complete monotone. Sal sighed, “Uh, okay, I’m gonna go find the last pyramid now.” 

The inside of the cave was very damp and musty. The sand on the ground was dark and clung to Sal’s sneakers. Everything smelled strongly of wet moss and lake water. The boy noticed, almost immediately, that there were drawings on the cave walls. Above were holes in the roof of the cave that allowed light to shine down, perfectly illuminating the paintings. They were very simple in nature -- stick figures and simple shapes to represent different objects -- but no less ominous. Pictures of horned figures surrounded by other, smaller ones. A strangely detailed eye watching over a ritual of some sort, a crowd circled around a corpse. Most of the walls were covered in varying sizes of handprints, some too long and spindly to be human. 

Sal studied them closer. Most of the drawings had images of circles or pyramids in them. He got the idea that some of the figures weren’t supposed to be humans, but ghosts perhaps? It was hard to tell. Eventually, while examining the walls, Sal found a tunnel leading deeper into the cave.

At the end of the tunnel, in a tiny alcove covered in more handprints, was the final pyramid. Sal snatched it up without thinking, a sense of anticipation filling him. He realized that he was finally going home.

* * *

Ash hadn’t been waiting for long before the third and final pyramid lit up. It was time. With shaking hands she knelt down to activate it with the push of a few buttons. At first, it didn’t do anything. Ash placed it down and stepped back, waiting for the screeching sound to signal Sal’s next transformation. “I don’t understand what’s happening, but the t-third one’s activated now, I think,” she stammered aloud, “Will this bring you back?” Before he could reply, Sal’s form lit up with a violent spark. Electricity popped and crackled, coursing through his body. “Sal?!”

There was only a pained gurgle in response. Ash began to feel a pang of doubt in her chest. Was it not working? “Dammit! This was supposed to resurrect you! What did I do wrong?!” She cried in frustration, her voice breaking. Sal groaned urgently, trying to speak, but Ash could not hear. She fell to her knees.

“I’m so sorry, Sal. I’ve failed you again. You deserve better than this. You deserve better than me!” Ash didn’t realize she was crying until she felt her tears hit her legs and stain the grass. Thunder rumbled distantly in the clouds above. All those years of guilt and blame came to a peak. Ash decided to make a sacrifice.

With one swift moment, Ashley whipped out her pocket knife and held it to her wrist. Sal began to protest in earnest now. “Hrrngh… Ash… don’t..” he groaned. “I would gladly die, if it meant that you will live. This is how I can make up for everything I’ve messed up,” she proclaimed defiantly, ignoring how her voice shook. Sal’s stiff arm reached out to her, a look of terror etching its way onto his sunken face. “Ash… no!”

“Go save them, Sally Face.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i dont know if i'm going to continue this fic but here's what i had for chapter 3. if i ever decide to pick up this fic again i'll add to this chapter.

_It was another lazy evening at Larry’s house. Sal originally came over to study, but the two of them ended up watching movies, as usual. Tonight they were watching a romance, one of those really sad ones. Sal watched the screen as the main couple kissed passionately in the rain, accompanied by dramatic piano music. He heard Larry sniffle next to him._

_“Come on dude, I told you this movie is emotional,” he chuckled. Larry sniffled again, ducking his head so that Sal wouldn’t see the tears building in his eyes, “Ugh… no way dude, I just got something in my eye…”_

_“It’s just so beautiful,” he continued, “I hope they end up together in the end. They deserve happiness after all the shit they’ve been through.” Sal hummed in agreement._

_“Hey Larry?” The blue-haired boy asked after a while. “What’s up?” Larry answered. “Do you… “ he faltered, “Do you think anyone could ever love me as much as they love each other?” Sal gestured to the TV screen, not daring to tear his eyes away for fear of Larry’s response._

_The brunette simply laughed, “Don’t be stupid! Who wouldn’t love you? You’re Sally Face! You’re perfect, dude.”_

  
  


* * *

_“Of course Neil can move in! I’m surprised it took you this long to ask him, honestly,” Sal grinned. He was sitting at the breakfast table across from Todd as the two dug into their cereal._

_“His current lease is nearing its end, which is why I waited,” Todd explained. “I’d be happy to have him at our place. I’m sure Larry will too. Though, Larry probably won’t move in until next year.”_

_“Well, thank you,” Todd smiled through a mouthful of cereal, “Neil will be excited to hear the news and I will be very glad to have him close by again.”_

* * *

_Sal dropped his pen in frustration. He stared down at the paper in front of him; another failed drawing. He was really trying to get a hang of this art business, but he would always end up with something he didn’t like._

_“What’s wrong, Sal?” A friendly voice pulled him from his thoughts. He looked up to see Ash, staring softly down at him with her beautiful green eyes. She had been trying to teach him to draw, and never seemed to be discouraged whenever he would complain or give up._

_“I’m just no good at this. I’m sorry for wasting your time.” he groaned. “You’ve got nothing to apologize for, Sal. I’ve been having a great time painting with you!” Ash replied cheerfully. “You’re an amazing artist, Ash, and a wonderful teacher. I’ll never be as good as you though.”_

_“Sure you can!” Ash protested, “All it takes is practice and determination. But only if you want it, you know? You don’t need to be good at everything you do.” Sal nodded, the things she said almost making sense to him. “Some things we do just because they’re fun and we like doing them. Or even to just spend time with people we like.”_

_“I guess you’re right. And I have been enjoying this, very much so.”_

_“Glad to hear that, Sally Face! Anytime you want to paint, or just hang out, let me know.”_

* * *

That night was the second time in Ashley’s life that she saw Sal’s face. The pocket knife slipped from her grasp a colossal lightning bolt struck the earth right in front of her, the thundering sound that followed almost splitting the sky in two. The light blinded her and Ash threw her arm in front of her eyes to block it out. When she looked up again, Sal’s body had completely reformed as he emerged otherworldly and transcendent from the grave. His gaze lifted and his blue eyes, full of energy, fixed on Ash.

“I wish you would see yourself the way I do,” Sal said, like he had been waiting to say those words for years, “You were never a failure in my eyes. You were always there for me.” That’s when she realized that Sal was really there, standing in front of her, _alive_. She gaped in utter amazement. His mask sat on the ground at his feet, nearly half-eaten by the ground. Sal’s face was completely exposed and it seemed he couldn’t care less.

Framed by unruly wisps of blue hair, Sal’s face was a pattern of discolored skin and scars. A few jagged, deep lines carved ravines into his chin and cheeks. The right side of his jawline was asymmetrical where pieces of bone had been lost in the incident. The cartilage of his nose was completely gone, leaving only two nostrils that looked almost like the nose on a skull. Sal’s lips were thin by nature, but as he smiled Ash noticed that his lips seemed more pulled back in one corner from the loss of skin, making his gums visible. 

Sal’s face seemed fragmented and put back together -- there were patches of discoloured skin on the right side of his face where there had obviously been multiple skin grafts -- but he looked so _human_. So wonderfully, beautifully human, all tied together with the most beautiful eyes Ash had seen in all her days. Light blue, like the ocean or the sky. Like lightning. Exquisite and powerful. That was Sal Fisher.

“You gave me hope when I needed it most,” Sal continued, voice brimming with emotion, “Even when you saw the horrible things I’d done…” Ash shuttered and began to sob, Sal’s overwhelming smile being too much to bear. “Even when you couldn’t believe the reasons I had to do those things, you stood by me. That means everything.” He was now crouched down on the ground with her. They cried together.

“I just… can’t believe that you’re here,” Ash muttered. “Neither can I,” Sal chuckled through tears. He wiped his eyes, regaining his composure, “But we’re gonna have to save the reunion for later. We have a ritual to stop.” The blue-haired man stood and offered Ash a hand. She graciously took it and once she was on her feet Sal bent down to pick up his mask, freeing it from the grass. He lifted it to his face and fastened the straps. 

Suddenly, no time had passed at all. All those years of worrying, wallowing in her guilt, replaying that night at Addison Apartments over and over again in her mind. Her time of searching for answers was over. She had found it, and it had all been worth it.

“Let’s go kick some cultist ass!”

* * *

Sneaking into the temple again armed with a baseball bat and Sal with his guitar made the underground cavern seem a lot less frightening. Ash finally felt like she had power over the cultists. She had predicted that they would use Maple and the others in their ritual tonight, and it seems she was right. The temple was buzzing with a strange energy and even before walking in, Sal and Ash could hear the distant commotion of the cultists gathering.

Sal already knew what was going on. Todd, Maple and Neil, among others, would be used as sacrifices in the cult’s last-ditch attempt to summon the Red-Eyed Demon. That meant that this was it. He felt a strange dread churning in his stomach. A premonition, perhaps. 


End file.
